A person standing on the ground observes the top of a tree at an angle of elevation of 45 degrees. If the person is 10 meters away from the base of the tree, what is the height of the tree?
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When a person observes the top of a tree at an angle of elevation of 45 degrees, it creates a right triangle with the person, the base of the tree, and the top of the tree. Because the angle of elevation is 45 degrees, the height of the tree is equal to the distance from the person to the tree. So, since the person is 10 meters away from the base of the tree, the height of the tree is also 10 meters. Now you have a handy relationship in right triangles: when the angles are 45 degrees, the lengths of the opposite and adjacent sides are equal! So next time you're out in nature, remember this fun fact; you can easily estimate heights using basic geometry.